A Note One Morning
by kulibao
Summary: A typical morning for Otako's homeroom class, but something about the otaku's friend Galko is different today. Otako is forced to confront the feelings she'd held within herself.
1. Chapter 1

The morning sun shined through the windows of the classroom casting soft shadows on the floor of the students desks. Notebooks lay on top, with some already having textbooks or coursework. Abesen, the teacher sat calling roll in a slight monotone, approaching the end of the list.

"Fukuda?"

"Here"

"Aoyama?"

"Here!"

"Well, that's everyone, everyone here that is. I suppose we can get a head start on literature to make up for yesterday's slowness."

Abesen lifted open a textbook on Japanese Literature, turning himself around to write on the chalkboard.

A few students let out a soft but audible sigh. Otako the short, wavy-haired female otaku sat at her desk with a manga just under her notes. Her eyes instinctively looked toward the door, already knowing what to expect.

The slide of a door sounded, and as expected walked in a blonde haired tall gyaru girl.

"Yo, good morning teach."

"Seriously? This is the second time you've gotten here after roll."

The teacher sighed but withheld judgement, he had long since resigned himself to this happening.

"Alright, alright just take your seat so we can get started."

"Okaaaay."

Galko made her way to her usual spot behind Otako. She playfully smiled at her dark haired friend, noticing Otako's eyes had been on her the whole time. The otaku weakly returned the favor with a bit of muted embarassment. Galko's face usually had a sleepy stoicness to it in the morning. She knew this because she unconsciously took note of it every day.

"G-Good morning Galko."

These quiet, whispered words were unusual coming out of Otako's usually vulgar mouth. Today she felt almost compelled to say them.

"Good morning Otako."

A slightly blushing, smiling Galko returned the favor with a sweet sound to her greeting, her body arched forwards. The otaku girl couldn't help but blush herself and instinctively turned back around in her desk. Thoughts began to race through her head.

" _...W-What was that all about."_

Otako knew something was different about this moment with Galko. She just couldn't place what about it exactly was strange. Her face felt flush and she looked downwards at her notes from fear someone would notice. Her heart beat noticeably faster.

The short haired otaku girl sat like this for a little while until she felt a strong prod on her back. She flinched hard, startled and quickly turned herself around. A smiling, giggling Galko gestured at her affectionately still red in the face.

Otako spun right back around at her desk. This time her heart pounding and her face noticeably red. Something definitely was different with her gyaru friend this morning.

" _W-What? W-what is with Galko today.."_

Galko had always been kind and friendly to her since the very day they met. Even after Otako's serious insults towards her. Galko always forgave, always made up, always was full of compassion and understanding. Something changed though, something that made Otako's chest flutter. She had never been this affectionate before. The glasses wearing otaku girl was flooded with feelings and thoughts she couldn't process. Otako didn't expect her morning to go like this, but the otaku girl realized she wasn't sure if she entirely minded. Her face turned even darker red upon this realization.

"Young miss, are you feeling alright today?"

Startled once more, her head bolted upwards. Abesen the teacher was looking right at her and so was the whole class.

"I-I'm….fine. R-Really."

"Oh but you look a little under the weather. It'd be good to send you down to the nurse before we really get going with class."

"N-No...i-it's fine. I'm just..it's just allergies. Really."

"Well...let me know if it gets worse."

The teacher turned back around to the chalkboard, writing out more Kanji heavy phrases for the class to study. Abesen was famous for being overly protective of his students, a worrywart as Galko called him. Some of the students giggled as he turned away, he really was excessive. Otako felt the weight of her embarrassment then and couldn't help but also feel anger towards Galko, who she felt triggered this series of events. Her fist clenched on her table involuntarily. Her body shook a little, overwhelmed from the wall of emotion she had hit.

" _W-What the hell, what's with her? She made me look like a little kid. W-Why is she so strange today…?"_

In her torrent of feelings, she didn't notice the sound of a paper tearing behind her or of a pen quickly scribbling something behind her. She flinched as a hand quickly placed a tiny scrap of paper next to her. Otako reflexively glanced at it, the blood rushed through her head so hard she had to read it three times before she understood. The word " **Sorry!** ", written out in cute letters flanked by hearts and a little doodled drawing of a sad cartoon rabbit's face. The otaku girl turned backwards towards her gyaru friend. Galko gave an embarrassed, apologetic smile followed by a weak giggle. Otako instantly turned around without giving a response.

Her brain surged quickly with adrenaline, she understood what was different now.


	2. Chapter 2

The afternoon sun shined brightly casting long shadows on the path of the gyaru girl. She still had a ways to go before arriving home. Galko walked her usual route worried about how things had gone today. After she had embarrassed her in front of the class, Otako barely talked to her the whole rest of the day. 

" _I hope she's not mad…"_

As she moved her vision rarely left the sidewalk below her. A bit of regret had hit Galko, she couldn't help but feel some shame. It was true things had been pretty different today.

" _I mean...m-maybe I surprised her?"_

Galko had wanted to let her know. To let Otako know that she knew what she was hiding. She had planned to be a bit more stealthy about it, but seeing those eyes watching her made the gyaru girl blow her cover. Galko cringed visibly thinking about her mistake, how obvious she was. She spoke to herself trying to deal with the slight pain the memory gave her.

"U-Ughhh maybe I was too much."

Thinking back over the day a dozen times, thinking about how Otako ignored both her and Ojou, about how Otako ate lunch by herself that day another painful possibility came to mind.

" _W-Wait what if she d-doesn't…"_

Galko stopped in place, her face turned dark red with shame, her eyes teared up. The gyaru girl had been so sure the night before but she had always been quick to jump to conclusions. The shame she felt was beginning to grow exponentially within her. She cupped her face with her hands and began to weep involuntarily in public. A passing elderly woman spoke to her with a slight bit of concern.

"Young Lady, are you okay?"

Galko flinched realizing the time and place she was in. She lifted her hands and saw the face of the old woman, as well as a few other people looking as they walked by. Her face was now flush not just from anguish but from embarrassment. She feigned a weak smile and waved with her hands, gesturing it was no big deal.

"Uh-uh! I'm fine, sorry!"

"Now, now young lady. I don't suppose this might be over a boy is it?"

"O-Oh no! It's not about that sort of thing! I've-I've… just been stressed lately."

Galko wasn't lying, that was likely the only way she could give such a reply with confidence.

"Oh I see miss, well it's not good for someone so young to worry so much. Things have a way of working themselves out most of the time anyway, you know?"

These words were surprisingly reassuring to the gyaru girl. Her fake smile became a real candid one. Galko wiped away her tears.

"Thank you, that honestly helped."

"Its nothing young lady, we all eventually go through similar things. Though it's obviously been a while since I was your age."

The elderly woman laughed and so did a very appreciative Galko. The two said their goodbyes and went on their way with the gyaru girl now feeling much better.

" _Maybe….maybe it's just too much for her to handle at once."_

By the time Galko reached her home she felt much better though still carried some concern.

" _Though...I guess I really could be wrong….wrong about how she feels."_

Opening the door to her home, setting her things aside and laying on her living room couch, she thought about what had triggered this set of events. The gyaru girl opened her phone, entering her web browser looking for that embarrassingly bad clickbait article she read the night before.

" _Maybe I can be pretty gullible…"_

She sighed and tried to force herself to not open it again despite it being in her Recently Opened. Galko lacked a bit of self-control and tapped it out of compulsion, feeling the dread in her stomach.

" **Five Ways of Knowing Your Classmate Likes You"**

The gyaru girl read over the title about four times before taking painful note of the other two similarly bad articles she had visited directly after. They lay on the sidebar of the first page right where she had originally found them. She read over the title of one, looking over it regretfully as she had the first.

" **7 Ways To Know If Your Friend Has A Crush"**

She visibly cringed, her face in regretful disgust. Galko made a slight whimpering noise under her breath in self-hatred.

" _God….I really am gullible."_

The blonde covered her face again, this time with her free hand. Peeking through them after having closed her eyes for a moment, she glanced over at the final article she visited the night before.

" **How to Know if Your Friend Has a Crush On You"**

Galko let her phone drop on the carpet in front of her. Her eyes closed as she tried to hold back tears. Galko buried her face in the couch's armrest trying to process the overwhelming amount of emotions she felt.

" _I-I knew I was stupid…"_

She had originally read those articles for laughs, a sort of ironic curiosity. Looking them over though this irony left and the Gyaru genuinely began to wonder if someone she knew might be attracted to her. Galko thought of the boys in her class first but not being particularly interested in them, she waved that idea away quickly. That's when the thought came to her, the signs and symptoms seemed to all match up.

" _Teasing, First one to notice you walk in, Mean but always by your side, Embarrassed to show affection..."_

The blonde rubbed her head into the armrest, her forearms acting as cushions. She scratched the armrest with her fingers as a way to help deal with the pain she was encircled by.

" _I-I guess….that could be anyone….any friend."_

A pair of feet neared the living room, making noise as they fell. Galko jolted up, wiping away tears and grabbing her phone from the floor. She arranged her hair back as neatly as she could after having ruffled it pretty badly. The Gyaru put on the stoic face of a bored, uncaring high schooler.

"Oh you're home little sis, how'd it go today?"

Her sister had entered the room, making her way to the nearby bathroom.

"It was alright I guess…"

Her sister laughed, she was used to hearing that type of response.

"Well if you need me, I'm gonna be washing up for a date tonight."

Galko blushed hearing these words.

"A d-d-date? W-W-With a man? O-On a Thursday?"

Galko's older sister laughed again, this time in a more mocking way.

"You didn't think college students followed the same type of schedule you would did you?"

Galko clenched her fist in slight anger as her sister closed the bath's door behind her. The younger gyaru girl sat alone for a moment silent. Gyaru doubted her older sister thought much of what her life was like either.


	3. Chapter 3

It was another day in class for the three high school girls. It was a foggy, humid day letting in little light. The fluorescent bulbs of the room did the lion's share of the work. The gyaru, the otaku, and even the rich girl sat in silence as the professor lectured. A weekend came and went without so much as even a text message between Otako and Galko. Neither had talked to another physically or digitally since the note passing incident on Thursday. Ojou had been observing curiously, wondering if a bit of drama had begun in their little friend group.

" _Perhaps….Galko wrote something rude on that note of paper? Otako did seem angry after all…"_

The rich young lady had always had an odd sort of bystander perspective of the too. She was aware of it from the day they had all met, the friendly rich girl knew she was almost a third-wheel. Despite this Ojou knew that they were her friends, both Galko and Otako had supported her throughout her transition into the common girl way of life that high school entailed.

" _Well.. I believe I must solve this issue one way or the other! I don't believe it would make great sense for us to simply cease our friendships!"_

Ojou's high class perspective colored her thoughts and what she saw in front of her. What she saw was a silent, depressed looking gyaru girl looking down at her notes, barely moving her eyes away from them. Galko's hair hung down sadly, folded over the edge of the desk. In front of the gyaru, a short haired otaku who seemed incredibly nervous about something in particular, something involving Galko judging from the quick glances Otako took at her.

" _These friends of mine…..they simply can not possibly be too angry at one another. Yes...perhaps they are not mad at another one bit! Perhaps…they are simply…too embarrassed to rectify whatever may have caused their distance? At least….this must be true for Otako…..yessss…. I believe this must be true."_

Ojou nodded her head up and down, not particularly self aware of how she may be broadcasting her thoughts. A very proud Abesen took it to mean his Japanese History lessons were really resonating with the young rich girl. He confidently detailed the origin of the Diet, using unusually complicated language for a High School.

"Well you see students, the Japanese Diet was partially inspired by German governmental systems of the 1800s... "

Ojou's nodding continued, her focus not on history but on analyzing the current situation between her two closest companions.

" _Perhaps what is really occurring beneath the surface of this friendship, is that Otako…."_

"...that is why we as a society, use this particular form of parliamentary organization as part of our political structure…"

" _Perhaps Otako…...yes…. I believe I do understand what is transpiring between them….yes…."_

" _..._ as opposed to say, the British parliamentary model or the American model!"

"Of course!"

Ojou said this out loud, making the fist into palm of hand gesture of understanding. The entire class turned to look at her for a moment before returning their attention to the front. The entire class excluding a still depressed gyaru and a very anxious otaku girl. Galko now sat with her head laid on the desk face down with her acting once again as cushions. Abesen who obviously had not noticed this had taken on a very joyful expression and continued with his lesson.

"Yes, yes! Now….on to the difference between direct democracy and the system known as the republic. You see class….in the days of the ancient Greeks…."

Completely unaffected by her surroundings Ojou brought herself to the only conclusion that seemed plausible.

" _Otako must have forgotten to return something of Galko's! How else would such a thing occur? Poor Galko must be lost in this world without her precious…...DVD perhaps? Or perhaps...eye shadow?"_

"A republic you see….is a form of government based on representational democracy…"

" _No, no, I don't believe Otako would have much use for the latter. It must be a DVD or perhaps even…...these mangas they mention so often in conversation? Yes! That would be something they would share!"_

"A direct democracy….is well….direct students. Citizens directly participate in and vote on government matters."

"Yes! It all makes sense now!"

Ojou declared this triumphantly, her arms raised in sudden revelation. Professor Abesen fought back a happy tear, this had been exactly what he had become a teacher for. Clearly he had finally reached the hearts of his pupils. The class once again turned to look at Ojou, this time with slight frustration. A random, unknown student whispered to no one in particular.

"...whats her deal today?"

Ojou didn't hear this but what she did notice was Otako turning to take another quick glance at Galko. The Otaku girl did this quickly turning back to face the front with red faced anxiety. Seeing this Ojou felt her ideas confirmed.

" _Yes! That must absolutely be it!"_

The rich young lady smiled to herself, plotting how she would casually get her two companions to speak to another. There was no way she was going to let something so small get between their friendships.


	4. Chapter 4

It was Tuesday, just before lunch period for the high school girl's class. The opportunity had come for Ojou to finally put her plan into action. Thinking about what she had bought in the local book store, she smiled to herself with confidence.

" _Yes….it is almost time! I'm quite excited! This will surely get those too talking again!"_

The day before Ojou had been scheming, thinking of the perfect way to spark a conversation between the two. She settled on what she believed to be the most logical choice.

" _Yes….Yes, I do believe that if it was manga that perhaps brought this conflict to its start then manga will be what brings them together again!"_

Having perused the selection available, the high-class girl purchased what looked to her to be the cutest, most appropriate work available.

" _A story about two high school girls sharing a bond of friendship. I don't believe I could have picked out a better, more relevant choice!"_

Ojou giggled to herself, covering her lips daintily to hide her intentions. In her eyes this was the natural tool to use in her mastermind ruse. She tapped her foot with anticipation, watching the clock about to hit the end of their mathematics lecture. An elderly, balding male professor in a white button up spoke in front of a chalkboard covered in precalculus algebra work.

"...So if you remove the absolute value of the difference between the result of the two equations, there should be your answer right there. Any questions class?"

Nobody responded.

"Fair enough. Well this is about the place we would stop usually, so what's the harm in a few more minutes of a lunch break? I'll see all of you again tomorrow. Remember to study for the quiz on Friday."

The old professor wiped down the board with a dirty chalk eraser before gathering his things and stepping out of the room. In the meantime, the students of the class had already begun to talk and pull out their lunches. About a third exited before the professor did, going to get meals from the school's cafeteria. The lines were usually long and being there a few minutes early was a considerable advantage.

The rich young lady's time had come, her foot tapped wildly and her expression was absolutely joyful.

" _How fortunate, my hour has arrived early! Now to finally put an end to this dreadful situation. Galko and Otako seemed to have suffered so greatly over such a silly matter."_

The gyaru girl still had a somber look to her, she lethargically took her lunch out from her bag as if burdened by a significant weight. In this moment, Otako took another opportunity to take a quick glance at Galko before turning back undetected by all except Ojou. Seeing the otaku girl sigh and drop her head in obvious sadness, Ojou's excitement turned to righteous determination.

" _Yes. I do believe my friends have suffered enough! I will do it! I will bring them back together so that our friendships may brighten our days once more!"_

The young rich girl stood up from her chair, leaning downward not just to take her lunch out from her bag but to also retrieve the manga she had chosen for her plan. She quickly lifted out both and walked to the usual free seat she took near Galko and Otako. Neither seemed to notice, not even Otako who at this moment was also taking out her wrapped up meal. Ojou laid her food down on the table she usually sat at, turning herself afterwards to face her two friends. The two still had not reacted to her presence. In her mind, it was time to finally cast the die.

"Hello you two! It's been some time since we've spoken, so I wanted to share with you this manga book I bought the other day! I'd love to hear your opinions!"

Ojou wasn't particularly good at acting or writing a script for herself. This didn't matter though as the novelty of the young rich girl having bought such a nerdy item was what sparked her friends' attention. Galko's expression had perked up immediately, clearly happy to talk to someone. Otako's head turned curiously as well just from the mention of manga. The gyaru girl was the first to say something.

"Oh Ojou! You really bought a manga? That's super coo-AHHHH!"

It had taken a moment for Galko to process what type of work in particular Ojou was holding. The moment she did, the young gyaru let out an involuntary yelp. Simultaneously, Otako who had also taken notice began to stammer in embarrassment. The wavy haired otaku was breathing heavily, her face as red as it had been at the start of this chain of events.

"O-O-Ojou….t-t-t-hat…Y-Y-YOU"

Ojou, completely unaware of what was going on believed them to be shocked she would have taken interest in such a commoner's item.

"Why yes of course! I do believe this is likely one of the most delightful little works I've ever encountered!"

The young rich girl waved her arms around happily, gesturing with the manga book she held in her hands. She had sparked a conversation, already her plan was coming together. Otako tried once more to get her words out.

"B-B-But...t-t-that...m-m-manga..."

Nothing about the cover of the manga suggested anything in particular. The cover's illustration depicted two young high school girls walking down a residential street flanked by flowers. Their expressions were joyful and the whole piece together gave a sense of optimistic happiness and positivity. Realizing the misunderstanding Ojou must be making, Galko attempted to explain in the best way she could given the circumstances.

"O-O-Ojou….that one is about…...girls...girls that…"

The gyaru girl also couldn't get her words out and it was just as well because a startled Otako interrupted her.

"Y-Y-YOU KNOW ABOUT IT?"

The otaku girl was facing Galko full on, the anxiety keeping Otako from talking to her had been replaced with flustered shock. The gyaru girl flinched not having expected for her friend to speak to her so soon. Quickly thinking over her words she realized Otako obviously had to know of the manga as well.

"O-O-OTAKO….Y-Y-YOU'VE READ IT TOO?"

The work Ojou had selected was particularly obscure outside of certain communities, outside of a particular demographic of reader. The young rich girl had purchased it at what she assumed to be a commoner's bookstore. She hadn't understood that its common appearance was really just simply the look of a particularly private, no questions asked, specialty store.

Ojou really had never questioned what the presence of so many spectrums of light or the understanding look of the cashier had meant. Ojou had also completely looked over the placement of a warning on the book's cover. She smiled devilishly noticing that her friends were finally on speaking terms. Meanwhile the young otaku attempted to respond to Galko's question, barely able to say anything.

"I….I…...yeah."

Otako's voice cracked on the last word. Her face completely flush, she looked downwards in shame. The gyaru girl cupped the bottom half of her own face, sharing the embarrassment.

"Otakooo…"

Her voice was soft, full of a compassionate and empathetic sweetness. Hearing this, Ojou spun around in place with the manga still in hand. The rich girl was overcome with joy and a sense of victory. She was still oblivious to what was really going on between her friends.

"You're both finally speaking to one another! Hooray!"

This brought both Galko and Otako back to an awareness of the classroom around them. Their friend was spinning around happily holding an explicit yuri manga in hand. Looking around, they realized all eyes were on them. A whispering, anxious otaku girl reflexively attempted to resolve the situation.

"O-Ojou! But really….y-you c-c-can't just have that o-out. D-D-Do you even realize what type of…"

Galko stopped Otako mid sentence, anticipating what might be the consequence of that discussion.

"Hey! Ojou, you wouldn't mind if I borrowed that from you for old time's sake would you? It's been awhile since I've read it!"

The gyaru girl laughed a nervous fake laugh upon completing this sentence. Ojou believing that this conflict had been started by such an action, couldn't pass up an opportunity to finally set things right in her mind. Handing the book to Galko for her to store away, Ojou once again spoke words that carried weight she simply could not understand.

"Go ahead friend! But Galko, I do believe you and Otako have something to discuss regarding **manga** , am I correct?"

Ojou winked as she said this particular word, believing herself to slyly be alluding to the imaginary unreturned book Galko had lended her otaku friend. The rich girl had no idea of the implications such a gesture had in this context. A shocked Galko and Otako sat awestruck believing themselves to have been found out by their usually out of touch friend. The gyaru girl spoke up to break the silence this had begun, she laughed nervously instantly making use of what she thought was clever code.

"Haha yeah...Otako...we should really talk about...how we hahaha… feel about **manga** …."

"I….I….had no idea you liked **manga…."**

Ojou looked on slightly confused but not at all concerned. She smiled having felt that her work paid off.

" _Oh! They must be using manga as a metaphor for their friendship. Things have really gone so well with this little plan of mine!"_

The two continued speaking in code, both appeared to be shy of outright stating anything but were slightly emboldened by their new found way of communicating. Thankfully for them their classmates had turned back to their own business, chatting away and eating their lunches. It really just sounded to many of their classmates like some awkward nerds talking about their comic book obsession. A few occasionally took some glances at the two however. These though were generally broken as students gradually returned from the cafeteria, calling away their attention with greetings and snacks to share.

Making use of the opportunity this created, Galko responded.

"I really…..really….care about this….particular **manga**...but I guess hahaha you aren't as into… **manga** as I maybe thought?"

"Listen….I….I didn't realize….I liked... **manga**...until...I realized...you liked….THIS **manga** …"

Upon hearing this Galko once more cupped her mouth reflexively, taken by feelings of concern. Otako continued speaking and had begun to shake with every word.

"It….it was a lot for me to deal with. I….I...had to think about who I was...I didn't...think of myself as a…. **mangaka.** "

The gyaru girl flinched slightly with the understanding of what the new addition to their argot must mean. Despite this little bit of shock, Galko recognized that the otaku girl seemed to really need to speak and just nodded compassionately to give loving approval.

"...I...I...guess I didn't want to believe I was one. I-I-I thought if I just didn't think about it….I wouldn't have to be one."

Galko continued to nod, now with teary eyes and some sniffling.

"Otakooo…."

Otako's shaking became worse and her eyes began to tear up just as Galko's had.

"..a-a-and...I-I-I…..w-want….y-you to k-know that...I-I was s-s-scared because...I like that **manga** too...I-I-I'm scared because I might l-l-l-ove that **m-m-manga."**

The gyaru girl instinctively brought herself up from the table to lovingly embrace Otako. The latter's response quickly turned from shock to completely returning the favor. They held each other for a wonderful moment of mutual affection, uncaring that this would obviously make their classmates turn their eyes towards them again. What they weren't expecting though was Ojou.

"Now you can be **mangaka** together **!** Hooray!"

Embarrassed, the two looked up from each other's hug just to marvel at Ojou's lack of tact. They still had no idea that, Ojou, had no idea what the code meant. Ojou continued, her hands now up in celebration.

"And make lots of **manga**!"

The two burned bright hot, their faces now dark red. They both cried out simultaneously.

"OJOU!"

Once again oblivious to the implications of her statement, Ojou happily joined in the hug as well. Justifiably, Galko and Otako couldn't help but wonder if Ojou was a **mangaka** as well. They accepted this idea with a smile to each other, not having to communicate with words. Only someone of their **profession** could have set their love free.


End file.
